Hercules: Woman punched in road rage incident

HERCULES -- A woman was accosted and punched by a driver who lashed out at the wrong person as other drivers were signaling their displeasure with the suspect's driving, police said.

The incident was reported around 2:54 p.m. Tuesday at Sycamore and San Pablo avenues. The woman, a Hercules resident, was stopped at a red light when a driver in a white Mercedes SUV tried to merge into her lane, police said.

The woman told police that the SUV was blocking traffic as it waited to merge, and other drivers began honking. The driver of the Mercedes, thinking that the woman was doing the honking, got out of the car, approached the drivers' side window, and punched the woman in the face once.

The woman told the police that she punched the suspect back in self-defense, and the driver fled. The woman did not seek medical treatment at the scene.